Gillard again in question time is refusing to answer questions about the slush fund scandal. And, because of a hopeless speaker, she is getting away with it.
There’s only one reason Gillard refuses to answer: if she gives the correct answer she’s guilty at least of incompetence and unprofessional conduct; if she gives the answers she’d like us to believe, she’s guilty of misleading the House.
Whatever she says, it will not win her any support. She’s playing the schoolyard bitch, clawing into deputy opposition leader Julie Bishop. It’s a repulsive look and fair-minded women loath it. And that horrible fishmonger’s wife voice – fingernails on blackboards are symphonic in comparison.

The result would be interesting if this survey was applied to Australian states.

Every year, 24/7 Wall St. conducts an extensive survey of all fifty states in America. Based on a review of data on financial health, standard of living and government services by state we determine how well each state is managed. For the first time, North Dakota is the best run. California is the worst run for the second year in a row.

Tasmania would probably take the ”worst state” mantle here. But which would be best? WA, Queensland?

A Malaysian Muslim political party is demanding that Elton John be barred from performing in the country later this week because he is homosexual.
Nasruding Hassan Tantawi, head of the youth wing of the opposition Pan-Malaysian Islamic party (PAS), said the concert “must be cancelled”.
“Artists who are involved in gay and lesbian activities must not be allowed to perform in Malaysia as they will promote the wrong values,” he said.
Homosexuality is illegal in Malaysia, where almost two-thirds of the 28 million population are Muslim, and is punishable by caning and up to 20 years in prison.

Further proof that humour is unknown territory to many on the hard left:

BEIJING (AP) — The online version of China’s Communist Party newspaper has hailed a report by The Onion naming North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un as the “Sexiest Man Alive” – not realizing it is satire.
The People’s Daily on Tuesday ran a 55-page photo spread on its website in a tribute to the round-faced leader, under the headline “North Korea’s top leader named The Onion’s Sexiest Man Alive for 2012.”

Like Bart Simpson, Julia Gillard repeatedly, and unconvincingly, pleads she did nothing wrong.
Maybe, maybe not. But, tell you what, if one were in need of lawyering up, she’d be last on my list of go-visiting.

Ms Gillard has repeatedly and strenuously denied any wrongdoing. She admits providing legal advice to help set up the association, which she later described as a “slush fund” for the re-election of union officials, but says she had no knowledge of its operations.
Legal documents, property searches and bank records show that about $100,000 was siphoned from the association to buy the Fitzroy house in 1993 as a home for Mr Wilson to use in Melbourne. Ms Gillard, who attended the auction with Mr Wilson, provided a power of attorney so he could purchase the property for $230,000 in the name of Mr Blewitt.

With a deft touch, Janet Albrechsten skewers whining Winnies who find sexism at every turn.
When will the keepers of academia clear the cloisters of ideological deadwood and replace them with open, intelligent minds that welcome opposing views and delight in humourous commentary on the human condition?

In any case, don’t underrate the Bond girls. Full of humour, they radiate a delightfully modern mix of confidence, arrogance and sexual liberation. Who can forget Pussy Galore, the lesbian pilot, or Plenty O’Toole and Holly Goodhead? Pick any Bond girl and I’ll find something more legitimately feminist about her than the Moaning Myrtles who cry sexism each time the latest Bond movie hits our screens. And then there’s that Bond woman M, head of MI6, who routinely puts 007 in his place. As other women my age have remarked, when you grew up in the late 1970s watching repeats of Bewitched and I Dream of Jeannie, the Bond girls were a refreshing break from Samantha and Jeannie.
Instead of whining that the latest Bond movie is sexist, spare a thought for the poor blokes who could air a bigger grievance. They can never hope to be Bond. Not in the 21st century, where revealing even the smallest hint of the alpha male is pounced on by puritanical feminists as a sign of uncontrolled machismo and sexism. Maybe women like me love 007 because he is the antithesis of the metrosexual men who surround us.

Confession time. The beloved’s maiden name was O’Toole which meant copping the sobriquet ”Plenty” for quite a period.